>> thanks for joining us here at 5:00. we hope to see you at 6:00. >> good night. on our broadcast tonight, damage control. growing outrage now along with new allegations of spying on some of our closest friends around the world with many now asking how much the president knew. struck down. one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country and there was a major ruling late today. taking a hit. a stunner from consumer reports. some of the most popular cars on a the the road are no longer recommended. and the babies born in the middle of a natural disaster now thriving as their first birthdays arrive. "nightly news" begins now. good evening. among industrialized nations, spying is considered something

everybody does but nobody likes to talk about. the problem for the u.s. right now is everybody is talking about it and each day seems to bring a new allegation concerning the extent to which the u.s. has spied on other nations, especially our allies and friends. it's all coming from one man, edward snowden and the secrets he made off before he left as a u.s. intelligence analyst. now the white house is scrambling to soothe feelings while fielding questions about how much the president knew. we begin in washington tonight with nbc's andrea mitchell. andrea, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. the white house is under fire from its closest allies. for the first time the president is promising to limit the nsa's extraordinary reach saying what they are able to do doesn't necessarily mean what they should be doing. that likely means not spying on foreign leaders who happen to be good friends and allies. across europe, an uproar today. the u.s. ambassador to spain

under siege. called on the carpet to explain reports that the nsa was vacuuming up telephone data, tracking 60 million calls in spain in less than a month according to el mundo. germany today called for an investigation into nsa's tapping of angela merkel's personal cell phone. the interior minister said the chancellor was spied on which violates german law. he threatened to expel any u.s. diplomats involved. european parliament members from germany and spain descended on washington demanding answers from congressional intelligence committees and threatening sanctions. >> it is not acceptable for example that espionage on chancellor merkel and others. >> we are asking ourselves if now the u.s. or nsa is considering merkel a terrorist. >> reporter: the president didn't know merkel's phone was targeted. is that possible? the diplomatic disaster based on leaks from edward snowden. i asked his intermediary

journalist glen greenwald speaking to us from rio. is it credible he would not know? >> unfortunately it is credible. because the nsa has become this rogue agency that really goes off on its own and does whatever it wants. i'm not sure which is scarier, that the president did know and approved it and is now lying about it or that he didn't know and the nsa took it upon itself to do that without the commander in chief being aware. >> reporter: does everyone do it? experts say china and russia are notorious for spying. so are close allies like france mostly for industrial espionage and israel for cyber war. but experts say no other spy agencies come close to the nsa's vast data collection. despite the risks, president obama is the first u.s. president to use a blackberry, overruling objections from the c irgs a and nsa. >> knowing other countries would be interested in listening to his phone calls. he ended up with one of the most secure blackberrys on earth. >> reporter: and he won't give

it up. >> is the president still using his blackberry? >> i have no change to announce in terms of the president's communications. >> reporter: he loves that blackberry. tonight diane finestein ordered a total review of all intelligence programs. the most sweeping since after 9/11 saying she opposes spying on allied leaders and was also kept in the dark about merkel. brian? >> andrea mitchell starting us off from our d.c. newsroom tonight. andrea, thanks. you may remember that one-woman filibuster in the texas state house a few months back. it was about legislation that became one of the strictest abortion laws in the country. tonight a federal judge put it on hold. our justice correspondent pete williams in our washington bureau tonight with the latest on this abortion issue in texas. pete, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. this law was to take effect tomorrow and it would have forced about a third of the three dozen abortion clinics in texas to shut down. despite that dramatic filibuster of state senator wendy davis

when the law was being considered, the state legislature passed it in july. it required any doctor performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic to provide better care in emergencies, the law's sponsor said. but today a federal judge in austin said that provision places an undue burden on a woman seeking a legal abortion. and he said it adds no medical value. the judge also narrowed another part of the law that limited the use of a two-pill system for medical or nonsurgical abortions. the state is certain to the appeal. brian? >> pete williams on the texas situation from washington tonight. pete, thanks. penn state university has agreed to pay out nearly $60 million to 26 different victims in that child sexual abuse scandal involving the former assistant football coach jerry sandusky who is, by the way, spending the rest of his life in prison. the settlement is on top of tens of millions already spent by the university on fines, legal bills and other costs in the scandal that badly tarnished the reputation of penn state

football and the late and legendary coach joe paterno. the website for the president's new health care law is back up tonight after yet another technical problem over the weekend that prevented people from signing up for health insurance yet again. for many middle class americans who buy their own health insurance, there could be another frustration and that is sticker shock after some learned they must buy new policies that cover more, but cost more as well. nbc's peter alexander at the white house for us tonight. peter, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. after weeks of questions about whether the obama care website could be fixed and when many say that is masking what is the real issue here. how much these plans will actually cost. it was one of president obama's key selling points for the new health care law. >> if you've got health insurance, it doesn't mean a government takeover. you keep your own insurance. keep your own doctor. if you like your plan you can keep your plan.

>> reporter: but in los angeles, that isn't what debra cavalaro is finding. she buys her own insurance. her employer sent her this notice reading because of the requirements of the new laws we can no longer offer your current policy. >> all i want is what i currently have. i want to keep my doctors and i would like to have lower premiums. >> reporter: the insurance company is offering her is new plan that would cost her $484 a month versus her current $293 premium, a 65% increase. why so much more? the affordable care act requires all plans include ten essential health benefits from maternity care to pediatric services. the administration points out many people will get subsidies to help offset higher costs. and most traditional employer-based and government plans that roughly 80% of americans rely on will not be affected. the fact millions will lose or

will have to change their individual policies is not a surprise to the administration. nbc news senior investigative correspondent lisa myers found buried in the 2010 obama care regulations language regulations language "wall street journal" predicting a reasonable range for the number of individual policies would terminate is 40% to 67%. health policy experts say the new rules make it difficult to carry over an old plan with less comprehensive coverage. >> the problem with obama care and where we are at now is the obama administration has decided to implement this in a really rigid way. >> reporter: white house officials insist they have always said insurance policies could change to offer more benefits and to emphasize the affordability. tonight the administration says nearly half of all uninsured single young adults could get health coverage for $50 a month or less. >> peter alexander at the white house for us. peter, thanks. overseas, a dramatic day and a symbolic place. tiananmen square in beijing.

at least five are dead and 38 injured after a fiery car crash. whether it was an accident or something else is in question. whatever it was, authorities did not want our cameras rolling on it as we hear tonight from nbc's ian williams who was there. >> reporter: it happened in the most sensitive place in china, beijing's tiananmen square. the burning car came to a stop right under the iconic portrait of mao zedong. it plowed through a barricade and into a crowd of tourists. we arrived soon after. the police locked down the area. they have cleared tiananmen scare. they have closed the subway. they are extremely jittery. security is always tight at the square. notorious as the scene of the 1989 pro democracy protests and bloody government crackdown. when we tried to film the aftermath of the crash, police and plain clothes security officials quickly surrounded us. and tried to stop us from shooting. we had seen them stop a passing bus and haul off two men they

spotted taking pictures from the window. we were taken from the square, detained for half an hour as they photographed us and checked our ids before letting us go. officials worked to erase all signs of the crash. social media is alive with speculation that the crash was deliberate, some sort of protest. so far no information about who was in the car and no clue about a possible motive. ian williams, nbc news, beijing. staying overseas for a moment, the death toll rising in europe tonight. at least 13 dead after one of the biggest storms to hit in years tearing across the uk into germany. hurricane-force winds knocking down trees. they have left hundreds of thousands without power. flood warnings are posted into the night. folks in the northeast will not soon forget the halloween nor'easter of 2011 which crippled a huge area when snow fell on trees still full of autumn leaves. while there is nothing that bad

in the forecast, a sizable halloween storm is on the move nonetheless which for midweek will stretch from texas to maine with rain and high winds. thankfully temperatures too warm to produce snow. lou reed died this weekend. he survived a liver transplant that extended his life. but the end came at home in long island when doctors determined there was nothing more they could do. his fans spent yesterday and today reacting to the news and comparing notes on the impact one man had on all of modern music. ♪ >> reporter: he might have been the largest single influence on the largest number of musicians in over a generation. lou reed ignored the old guard and defined avant-garde. he was a true rebel, poet, militant, contrarian. his music wasn't for everybody, but it ended up affecting what everyone heard. >> i had these great novelist ambitions about it.

i really wanted to make it a rock and roll songs about things that really mattered. >> reporter: born in brooklyn and raised on long island he was a dark troubled kid treated with electroshock therapy. after graduating from syracuse, his early career was rough. ♪ >> reporter: he wrote about subjects people didn't talk about at the time. it was a signal to the new york music under ground that it was safe to come out. >> he knew he was a rock and roll singer. he loved the form. he wrote lyrics that reflected that that were primal, that were simple, but were also beautiful. >> reporter: he could be wildly experimental. he once made a double album of just guitar reverb which he himself admitted he couldn't listen to all the way through. ♪ >> reporter: for all of his influence, he only had one big

commercial hit, "walk on the wild side," about the people around his friend and patron andy warhol. andy warhol. it is about sex, gender, drug and hustlers. he put them all in a strange place where the colored girls sing. ♪ doo, doo, doo, doo >> what is it that people like? i always ask people. what is it? i decided it's the doo, doo, doos. >> reporter: he was revolutionary and his group the velvet underground helped inspire the velvet revolution against come in addition when a young man named vaclav havel brought a lou reed record back with him from new york and went on to lead a nation. lou reed dead at the age of 71. still ahead for us on a monday night, big news about some of the most popular vehicles on the road. something of a shocker from the folks at consumer reports. and later, the big celebration for babies born during a wild week for a lot of new moms and dads in this part of the world.

we are back with big news in the world of cars, specifically reliability and the magazine so many car buyers consult "consumer reports" has a big setback to the longtime worth of the toyota camry. it wasn't the only brand anymore getting bad news. our report tonight from nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: year after year the toyota camry is among the best-selling cars in america. today, a stunning announcement from "consumer reports." it's no longer recommending the camry because of how it performed in this test. the new overlap crash test from the insurance institute for highway safety which simulates a car clipping another car or a solid object. the camry, rav-4, prius b and audi a-4 received poor ratings. now consumer reports is dropping its recommendation for all four. >> comes to crash performance,

reliability. there are a lot of vehicles, a lot of grease choices out there. we think we should just recommend the vehicles that are the best. >> reporter: audi is already working on a fix. toyota tells nbc news their cars meet all federal requirements and we are looking at a range of resolutions to achieve greater crash performance in this area. the new rankings are about reliability. japanese brands take seven of the top ten spots. but of 31 ford models, only one, the f-150 pickup truck, scored above average. the biggest complaint is with electronics. the navigation, audio, communications, freezing up, failing to connect or work. surprisingly two-thirds of the ford and ford-owned lincoln models tested got scores that were much worse than average. in a statement ford said it is committed to delivering the best quality with every new vehicle. we have improved the quality of advanced connectivity technologies by 50% since launch. >> this is a big problem for

ford because their reputation has improved over the last five years because they have improved their dependability and quality. this survey raises red flags with potential buyers. >> reporter: the consumer reports conclusion, electronics can also be an achilles heel. tom costello, nbc news, washington. we're back in a moment with the big reunion today a half a century in the making.

there were two separate unveilings today we wanted to share with you today starting with the u.s. military working dog team's national monument. first of its kind opened today in san antonio honoring our vital and faithful four-legged warriors. at the national portrait gallery in washington a new painting called "the four justices." at almost 8 by 10 feet, it's a huge depiction of the first four female justices in u.s. history. sotomayor, kagan, o'connor, and

ginsberg. now to a photo taken by ringo in new jersey when the beatles visited in '64. a week ago ringo asked for help in finding the young beatles fans. our friends at the "today" show not only found the surviving former kids, got them together on the plaza this morning, they recreated the photo. they have arranged for them all to attend an upcoming ringo starr concert in las vegas. how about that? this weekend in las vegas, a 64-year-old man named john force did something extraordinary. this is what he does for a living. it takes only four seconds to show it to you. that's drag racing. 4.062 seconds, 310 miles an hour. that was john force winning the nhra title for the 16th time. the driver he beat in the next lane was his daughter courtney. he says he'd like to celebrate

turni turning 56 next year with a 17th nhra title. and let's hear it for the world series and strange game endings. saturday night's game ended with an ump's call at the base path to home was obstructed by a pair of legs. last night it ended when the pinch runner's legs couldn't get him back to first in time. all of it led "snl"'sset myers to speculate on twitter that tonight's game will end with a falcon catching the ball in its beak and dropping it over the fence for a walk-off home run. boston and st. louis are tied two games a piece. when we come bab we'll take you back to what was just starting to happen a year ago tonight. the new arrivals were on their way 37

parts of ellis island re-opened just today on the eve of the first anniversary of the arrival of hurricane sandy. the former gateway to the nation sustained heavy damage in the storm. the storm was a traumatic event for so many people during a full moon, remember. you can probably guess the rest. for the women who went into labor this week a year ago, it was a huge challenge, a lasting memory. and tonight nbc's rehema ellis

checks in on them. >> look at you! >> reporter: it's hard to imagine this was nearly a year ago. >> hey, sweetheart. >> reporter: julia was in labor at nyu medical center during the height of hurricane sandy when the hospital found itself in critical condition. flooded with 14 feet of water and without power or a working generator, the hospital was forced to evacuate more than 300 patients. >> we prioritized the patients one by one, put them on a sled and went down the stairs, one staircase at a time. >> reporter: julia and her husband were among those rushed to other facilities. >> i was holding a cell phone above her while they were putting in the iv and epidural. >> reporter: mika was later born at mount sinai. when sandy came ashore in new jersey, marie and mike celebrated the arrival of their son brendan. >> hospital lost power. they were on emergency generators. >> reporter: in the dark at the hospital and unaware their home

had been destroyed. >> they had everything ready for us to come home. >> reporter: just last week for the first time, brendan saw the house that was supposed to be his home. he and mika are just two of the babies born a year ago. after a stormy start now celebrating their first birthdays. how are the children doing now? >> they're great. they're amazing. beginning to walk, standing. how lucky we all are that we have these beautiful babies that they are all healthy and joyous. >> reporter: frieda took her first steps. alice loves the camera. stone's mother says he's full of adventure. this story has a happy ending. >> yes. it's a beautiful ending. >> reporter: and for these families, a beginning as well. rehema ellis, nbc news, new york. >> how about that? that's our broadcast on a monday night as we start off a new week. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night.

thanks for joining us. i'm janelle wang. >> i'm raj matthai. >> it's one of the most charming communities in the bay area. it's been plagued by home burglaries. a recent victim is urging his neighbors to be an guard. staffing issues prevented san jose police from responding to most burglary calls. nbc bay area's damian trujillo joins us in willow glen with the story. this is a notable community. what's the plan? >> reporter: they're not going to take this sitting down they

tell me. the contract working on this home behind me put up the warning sign over there. the home was not tarped at the time so neighbors believe the thieves thought there were expensive tools inside. tonight those neighbors tell me they feel they have to night this crime themselves. not even the no trespassing signs or scare crow next door were enough to stave off the willow street burglar. >> she's painstakingly put the house back together in its era, room by room. they broke in the back door with a crowbar. they could have broken the glass and gone in, but no, they destroyed the door. >> reporter: the thieves made off with a few tools, and it was enough for the contractor to warn the neighbors. >> i like it. >> i like it. it should be done so everybody knows to watch out for it. be on the alert. >> reporter: it seems everyone in willow glen has a story or two about being victims of theft. >> i put the alarm system right after the bicycle was stolen from my yard. >> the guy just walked out. like he was